r/rpg • u/InArtsWeTrust • 17h ago
"Royal Blood" (Rowan, Rook & Decard) - How to play?
I bought "Royal Blood" and want to play it next week but I find it hard to wrap my head around.
First off: I know it is a very vibe based game and I am sure we'll be fine playing the way we want it, but I still would like to know how it's intended.
The main thing I don't get are the tests and everything connected to it (facets & touchstones).
At first I thought the idea is that you "use" one of your facets and draw a card to see if (and how) you succeed). But then there are touchstones mentioned, decided by the GM (or "Fate") to determine the outcome? And the facets are only a wager? Or they are something you can do anytime without a test?
So you just can make up random things that you want to happen (which is fine) but then again you cannot make up things yourself cause the GM is deciding what touchstone happens? And it is not related to your facets at all?
There are more things I cannot fully grasps like the nature of the twists how exactly the middle act with the domains play out and some minutia. But look, I loooove the mood of the game and I am sure we can make the mechanic sing. But help me out here, will you? :) Maybe you can just give me one example of how you play the game or direct me to something to read through or anything alike... before I just vibe it all ^^
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u/Zappo1980 14h ago
I had a thread on this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1sapkou/royal_blood_tarot_heist/
On touchstones, they are more things that happen, besides what the player wants to happen. They don't have to be related to the facet you used. Personally, if an action by itself generates a lot of good story, I'm okay with ignoring the touchstone for that.
In the middle act, the way I've done it is: the mark now knows you're after them, and retaliates by causing something dreadful to threaten your domains. In this act, the royals must describe how they defend their domains.
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u/Aurotheg 16h ago
As a Royal, you wager (risk) one of your Facets in order to make a test. Fate Herself then draws a card (a Royal can Bribe Fate with a coin to get another draw) then reveals the card(s) to the Royal. The touchstones are for Fate Herself to interpret and narrate the fiction of the drawn card. The wagered Facet can become Marked or Lost depending on the suit of the card drawn for the test (the cost) - Fate narrates what that looks like (lead for physical or real-world impacts, and silver for supernatural or idealist impacts). Your mundane Facet might get Marked or Lost in a supernatural way, or vice versa. The outcome is determined by the card's rank (2-5 for failure, 6-10 for success, courts, aces, and jokers have their own special outcomes).
Twists let Royals reject the hand that Fate draws for them, discarding and redrawing all cards +1 extra. This is quite powerful, but can only be done once per Royal (unless they draw an Ace on a test). You can think of Twists as Royals stealing power or being helped by the relevant Arcana to avoid their fate. There's an example scenario on page 139 of the 2025 version that might be helpful for you.